thirteen

Every parent always says "It couldn't happen to my child". Every to
be parent (like me & megan) says "We will do it right". I'm not sure today is
any worse than in the past. Did parents in the 50's have the same scares that we have
today?

If you haven't seen or heard about thirteen, it is the story of a 13
year old girl that befriends a popular girl in the seventh grade. The movie chronicles
their sprial down into alcohol, drugs, sex, and theft. The movie is based on the real
story of one writers.

I hear parents that want to be "friends" with their child. I hear about
children's rights (to privacy, to disagree, etc). Parents are not there to be friends
with their children. Parents have a right and obligation to not give their children
unconditionaly privacy, to not let their children decide everything in their lives.
When you have children, you have a life long obligation to be their parent.

I hear stories from various teachers that parents of their students
come in asking the teachers to someone "make" their kids do homework. Guess what?!
It's a parent's job to make sure kids do their homework, not the teachers. It's the
parent's job to teach kids responsibility. It's the parent's job to teach right and
wrong. It's the parent's job to know if their kid is on drugs.

I know that I will make mistakes when I'm a parent. It's almost a requirement
of the job. I just hope that I will never be my kid's friend.